Tag Archives: SOLT

Was anyone else a little puzzled by the recently-announced appointment of Julian Bird as ‘Chair’ of Drama UK, an organisation formed from a merger between the National Council for Drama Training and the Conference of Drama Schools. Bird is certainly enjoying … Continue reading →

Speculation about how the Olympics will affect West End theatre has been going on for some time, although an article in ‘This is Money’ quoted by Mark Shenton in his Stage blog in November brought matters to a head by suggesting the … Continue reading →

Why does ‘The Stage’ continue to report the ever growing profits in West End Theatres as a good news story? Their latest report on West End revenues has the headline ‘West End stays on course for £500m box office hat-trick’ and … Continue reading →

News reporting about the West End seems to veer between two extremes – SOLT boasting about how profits are going up and up, and general panic about shows closing. The announcement of the closure of Betty Blue Eyes was greeted … Continue reading →

There seems to be good news from the West End, with headlines proclaiming ‘Box-office sales surge’, and ‘West End takings bounce back thanks to plays’. Yes, it’s that time again, when SOLT announces the quarterly results from West End theatre … Continue reading →

As we have previously noted, Andrew Lloyd Webber is a master at making seemingly self-effacing comments whilst stabbing his colleagues in the back. It’s no different in his recent interview with Patrick Healy in the New York Times, in which he indulges … Continue reading →

We wish we’d read the 3rd March edition of ‘The Stage’ before we posted on this topic, but we didn’t, hence this postscript. We were somewhat surprised to read an interview by Alistair Smith with Julian Bird, the chief executive of … Continue reading →